Bolney Community Cafe will be celebrating Chinese New Year in the week commencing the 4th of February. Why not come along for lunch? There will be a 2 course meal for £10.

BCC is a not for profit organisation based at the Rawson Hall, The Street, Bolney, RH17 5PF. We are open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 4.30pm. For Chinese New Year please book in person at the Cafe or call 01444 848667 during opening hours.

Please accept this letter as confirmation that Devine Homes PLC will not be in a position to attend tomorrow night’s (January 22nd) Parish Council meeting. We apologise for this late notice.

As you are aware Devine Homes PLC is keen to support Bolney Parish Council in the delivery of the Extension of Batchelor’s Field – Policy BOLA2 of the Bolney Neighbourhood Plan. We are willing to work with the Parish Council to enable this land to be used for the public benefit, and deliver recreation facility improvements to the village.

Linked to this, Devine Homes PLC are also promoting land north and south of Ryecroft Road for residential development, through the emerging Mid Sussex District Council Site Allocations Document.

In December 2018 site management works were undertaken to part of the land north of Ryecroft Road. These works were undertaken following extensive surveys of the site, and by an experienced approved contractor. The works did not require planning permission and took place on private land.

On Thursday 17th January 2019 we were made aware that a Tree Preservation Order has been made on the land north of Ryecroft Road.

In light of the above designation, it would be premature to visit the Parish Council. We remain committed to a positive dialogue with the Parish and will be in touch in due course when we can confirm our attendance.

Bolney Parish Council is calling on residents, passionate about their community to stand in the local elections in 2019.

What do councillors
do?

Councillors are the
champions of their community and give residents a voice on the decisions the
council makes. Becoming a councillor will allow you to make a real difference
in your community by engaging with residents, local groups and businesses to
find out their needs; making decisions on which services and projects the
council should take forward; and getting involved locally to ensure the
services are meeting your community’s needs.

How long does it
take?

The National
Association of Local Councils (NALC) Local Councillor Census Survey found that
councillors put aside, on average, three hours a week for council work. This
often includes attending meetings, engaging with residents and speaking on
behalf of the council to other bodies.

Can I stand?

There are only a few
rules to stand for election. You must be:

• A British citizen, or a citizen of
the Commonwealth, or the European Union

Please be aware that Warden Park Secondary Academy (WPSA) is consulting on changes to its Admissions criteria. WPSA is part of the Sussex Learning Trust (SLT) which also includes two primary schools and will shortly add another.

WPSA is proposing to provide priority to children attending the SLT primary academies which, once the third primary school is included, will result in up to 180 of the 300 available spaces being taken by these children. WPSA is also proposing
to remove the catchment area and so all other applications will be based on distance from the academy.

The result, if these changes are enacted, will be that children attending Bolney Primary School are highly unlikely to obtain a space at WPSA. This will have a significant impact on Bolney as families will be less likely to find Bolney
a suitable village to live in without the current school pathway of attending Bolney Primary School and WPSA. This could impact house prices, local businesses and even the sustainability of our Primary School and Early Years provision.

There is currently some work being done on the land north of Ryecroft Road which has caused some concern to residents. This was originally due to be done in January but the contractor KPS couldn’t accommodate the dates required so are carrying out some of the work this week and will then do a couple more days in January. They won’t be working beyond tomorrow and won’t return until after the new year.

They are retaining the boundary trees along London Road and Ryecroft Road as well as the footpath. They are seeking to cut back the self-seeded whips, the self-seeded silver birch, scrub and growth. They are not looking to remove any trees of merit which form part of the boundary to the footpath Ryecroft Road, or London Road, or substantial specimens.

This land was not allocated in the Neighbourhood Plan but was also not available at the time so couldn’t be allocated. Further sites in Mid Sussex are required to meet housing numbers in the Mid Sussex District Plan so various additional sites will need to be considered across the district. The developer Devine Homes is looking at this site and is in consultation with the Parish Council at the moment. It is still at an early stage and there is no planning application.

Daniel Corcoran is the Planning Manager at Devine Homes. He has been in Bolney this morning and spoken to a few walkers about the work there and he will also be at the site some time tomorrow morning. He is very happy to speak to any residents who have questions and can be contacted on 01737 274834 or 07957 760737.

Residents are welcome to attend parish council and planning meetings and can ask a question prior to the start of the meeting in the public session. Our next meeting is this evening at 8pm at The Rawson Hall

The Met Office has launched it’s latest ‘Weather Ready’ campaign, run in partnership with the Cabinet Office, which aims to help the public be better prepared for severe weather – throughout the winter and beyond.

For more information please see the Met Office’s Weather Ready website https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/barometer/advice which has plenty of weather-related advice from expert partners to help people prepare for the potential impacts of severe weather on their home, health and wellbeing and families this winter.

Sussex Police have started the biggest intake of new police officers for over a decade. This has been made possible by the increase in police precept of an average £12 for a band D property, and the PCC releasing £17 million from reserves. It means that over the next four years, Sussex will have 200 more police officers on the frontline than it does today.

Although residents are pleased to hear that local policing will be strengthened by these 200 extra officers, they are already indicating that they would like even more. That is why the PCC has opened a survey on her website to gauge potential support for raising more funding locally if the Government lifts the current cap on the police precept.